ACLU leader leaving SD for NYC

San Diego  The local American Civil Liberties Union chapter is looking for a new leader with Wednesday’s announcement that Executive Director Kevin Keenan is heading to New York.

Keenan, who has led the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties for eight years, is accompanying his wife to Manhattan, where she accepted her “dream job” as assistant professor of social ethics at Union Theological Seminary.

He and his family will leave in December.

Keenan will assist in the transition to a new leader, who is expected to be appointed by September.

“I feel truly blessed to have worked with amazing people and been able to make important changes and fight for the principles that make this country great,” Keenan said Wednesday.

“I hope to find ways to make San Diego always a part of my life.”

Keenan said he has just started to look at job opportunities in the New York area.

During his time here, he has led major efforts on border justice, immigrants’ rights and voting rights, among other areas. Under his leadership, the ACLU challenged the city of Escondido’s rental ban ordinance and won a ruling in a class-action suit, making it a requirement for mentally ill immigrant detainees to be provided legal counsel.

One area that still needs work, Keenan said, is a coordinated local ACLU response to increased government surveillance, including the use of drones and license-plate readers.

“I think it’s a national problem and I’m worried San Diego is the laboratory to invade people’s everyday privacy.”